“Courtly love is a Medieval European concept of nobility and chivalry expressing love and admiration” (“What is fin’amor,” 1). In “Fiametta’s Story” by Giovanni Boccaccio, courtly love is expressed greatly by the characters in the story.
When a person hears the word “courtly love,” the first thing that comes to the mind is a knight’s chivalry, and that would be almost correct. “Courtly love is a Medieval European concept of nobility and chivalry expressing love and admiration” (“What is fin’amor,” 1). In “Fiametta’s Story” by Giovanni Boccaccio, courtly love is expressed greatly by the characters in the story. The two main characters are Federigo, who is madly in love with a woman named Monna Giovanna. Throughout the story rules or examples of courtly love are shown by both Federigo and Monna Giovanna.
One example of courtly love that is evident throughout “Fiametta’s Story” is that the “thought of the beloved never leaves the true lover” (Rules of Courtly Love, 30). Federigo never stopped thinking of Monna Giovanna. He still thought of her even until she came to him to ask for the falcon for her son. Also “the lover’s every deed is performed with the thought of his beloved in mind” (Rules of Courtly Love, 24). Federigo’s every deed is in Monna Giovanna’s name. His elaborate parties, the tournaments he participated in, and even to the gifts he distributed was all in her name, till eventually he went into poverty by spending so much of his wealth for her attention. Even he killed his precious falcon for her for a meal.
Another way that courtly love is evident in “Fiametta’s Story” is “Good character is the one real requirement for worthiness of love” (Rules of Courtly Love, 18). Both Federigo and Monna Giovanna show good character. An example given in the story about Federigo says, “who for his deeds of chivalry and courtly manners was more highly spoken of than any other squire in Tuscany” (Boccaccio, 11). Monna Giavanna shows that she has a good heart throughout the story. She is good in the fact that she was a married woman when Federigo was doing all of those things for her. She noticed them, but did not acknowledge them till after her husband died and she went to see Federigo about the falcon and there thanked him for all he had done. That showed that she was faithful to her husband.
“The value of love is commensurate with its difficulty of attainment” (Rules of Courtly Love, 14). Federigo had a very difficult time obtaining Monna Giovanna’s love. He sacrificed so much for many years, but he could not have her love him in return then until after her husband died. After her son, who had wished he could have Federigo’s falcon, died, Monna Giovanna inherited all of her late husband’s riches. She had inherited so much that her brothers encouraged her to remarry. After the falcon episode, Monna Giovanna realized how great Federigo’s love was for her. Her brothers thought it foolish to marry Federigo as he was very poor. However, Monna Giovanna persisted that she would marry him as she said, “I would sooner have a gentleman without riches, than riches without a gentleman,” (Boccaccio, 15).
Courtly love is what makes stories such as “Fiametta’s Story” so interesting. It is the man going all out to try to please a lady to get her to love him, even if it takes a long time to happen or not at all. That is what makes courtly love very romantic.
Works Cited:
- Boccaccio, Giovanni. “Fiametta’s Story.” Trans. G.H. McWilliams. The Riverside Anthology of Short Fiction: Convention and Innovation. ed. Dean Baldwin. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 10-15. Print.
- “What is fin’amor (Courtly Love).” Depot University. 1998. Web.
- Rules of Courtly Love. Carson-Newman University. 20 Aug. 2013.Web.
